Hughes Space Communications Group

When a Chinese rocket carrying a U.S.-made satellite exploded in flames and fell to Earth early Thursday, so did the lofty hopes of China's aerospace industry and many international TV broadcasters. The Apstar-2 satellite, made by Los Angeles-based Hughes Space & Communications Co., was to be the main platform for a raft of major American programmers, including CNN International, the Disney Channel, Time Warner, HBO Asia, ESPN International, MTV Asia and the Discovery Channel.

When a Chinese rocket carrying a U.S.-made satellite exploded in flames and fell to Earth early Thursday, so did the lofty hopes of China's aerospace industry and many international TV broadcasters. The Apstar-2 satellite, made by Los Angeles-based Hughes Space & Communications Co., was to be the main platform for a raft of major American programmers, including CNN International, the Disney Channel, Time Warner, HBO Asia, ESPN International, MTV Asia and the Discovery Channel.

NASA selected Ford over two competitors to build a new generation of weather satellites for about $221 million. The losers were Hughes Aircraft's Space & Communications Group and RCA's Government Systems unit. Ford Aerospace & Communications' Western Development Laboratories in Palo Alto will negotiate a cost-plus contract for three satellites and two spares, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. The first of the spacecraft is to be launched in 1989.

Dorfman Picked for Posts at Hughes: Steven D. Dorfman was elected a senior vice president of Hughes Aircraft Co. and president of Hughes' telecommunications and space group. He will also join the Los Angeles company's office of the chairman. In leading the telecommunications sector, Dorfman, 58, succeeds Anthony J. Iorillo, a 34-year Hughes veteran who helped make the company's satellite business among the most successful in the industry.

Amid mounting U.S. pressure to open its trade doors to American companies, Japan agreed Tuesday to receive the license application of Hughes Aircraft and two Japanese partners to jointly operate a private satellite system for domestic Japanese markets. Approval of that business license by Japan's Ministry of Post and Telecommunications would clear the way for development of a two-satellite network expected to cost between $300 million and $400 million.

Martin Marietta was awarded an important $508-million contract Friday to build a National Test Bed simulation facility for the Strategic Defense Initiative, dealing its competitor Rockwell International a sharp defeat. Under a five-year contract awarded through the Pentagon's Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, Martin will design and build a large computer-driven simulation complex that will explore the feasibility of stopping a Soviet nuclear missile attack.

American commercial satellite producers stand to gain only modestly in the near future from an agreement reached Tuesday aimed at opening the Japanese satellite market. But the accord could have far-reaching benefits that will allow U.S. producers to maintain their dominant world position in the face of a concerted Japanese push to become major producers of commercial satellites.

Hughes Aircraft Chairman Albert D. Wheelon abruptly retired Thursday, citing unexplained "personal reasons." Wheelon's retirement from Hughes, a General Motors subsidiary based in Los Angeles, came at a hastily called meeting of Hughes Aircraft directors at GM headquarters in Detroit. The nine-member Hughes Aircraft board, controlled by GM executives, elected Hughes veteran Malcolm R. Currie as the new chairman.

Albert D. Wheelon, executive vice president of Hughes Aircraft, Monday was named the company's chairman and chief executive, effective next April, when Chairman Allen E. Puckett retires at the age of 67. Wheelon, who has an extensive background in science and technology, was elevated over Hughes President Donald White and Vice Chairman Richard Alden.

An internal investigation by Hughes Aircraft of its satellite contracts with Intelsat is looking into whether fees paid to some Hughes consultants in South America were diverted to former Intelsat Deputy Director Jose L. Alegrett, according to former Hughes Vice President Paul Visher. A federal grand jury investigating the payments has subpoenaed Hughes Aircraft records relating to satellite marketing consultants, Visher said Tuesday in a telephone interview.

A unit of Hughes Aircraft Co. sued NASA on Friday to recover $288.5 million in extra expenses that the company said it incurred when the space agency canceled plans to launch 10 Hughes satellites after the 1986 explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. Hughes Communications Galaxy claimed in papers filed in U.S.